LSC-O’s Guide to MLA Citation Style
Modern Language Association (MLA) style is used for academic writing in LSC-O courses such as English Composition,
& Literature, Languages, Philosophy, Speech, Drama, Art, Music & History. For more details, please refer to the MLA
Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th ed., available at the Library Help Desk. Read these MLA citation basics:
1. Authors: Start all citations with author names, same order as given in the source. First author name is given last
name, first. Names that follow are in normal order. Use commas between names. Place “and” before the final
name, for two or more authors. See book examples, next page, for more authors, and examples for editors.
2. Titles: Follow authors with title and subtitle (if any) of books or articles. Capitalize all words that start the title
and subtitle, and all other words EXCEPT articles (a, an, the), conjunctions (and, or, not, but, yet), and
prepositions (of, in, to, from, near, above, about, etc.). When citing article titles, put the title in “quotes,” and
follow it with the title of the periodical or book, as the case may be, in italics. See examples.
3. Editions: When citing books, give an edition number if it is more than the first edition: 2nd ed., 3rd ed., etc.
4. Publication info: For books give as City: Publisher, year. For journals give volume.issue (year), numbers only,
year in parentheses. For magazines and newspapers give only the date as day Month year or Month year or
Month-Month year, as the case may be. Abbreviate months with more than four letters as follows: Jan. , Feb.,
Mar., Apr., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec. Dates of access for online books and articles also follow these rules.
5. Medium: End with the publication medium, usually Print or Web. If citing an eBook or article from a library
database, give the database name first as: Database. Web. day Month year of access. See last example below.
Examples for periodicals: journals, magazines, newspapers (items published periodically)
|
AUTHOR
|
ARTICLE TITLE
|
PERIODICAL TITLE
| VOL.ISSUE (YEAR) | PAGES | MEDIUM |
Cobb, Jr., Charles E. "Black in Different Colors." Massachusetts Review 52.2 (2011): 174-78. Print.
Journal Article:
Give volume, issue and year as shown, and
not dates. When the title names a short
work, put that title in single quotes.
Magazine Article: A bi-monthly magazine
Give dates, not volume-issue. Give date as
Month-Month year abbreviating dates at
noted under item 4 above.
Magazine Article: A monthly magazine
Give date as Month year.
Rankin, Paul. "Hemingway's ‘Hills Like White Elephants.’” Explicator
63.4 (2005): 234-37. Print.
Parenthetical Citation: (Rankin 236)
Sandhu, Sukhdev. "Say It Loud." Modern Painters July-Aug. 2005:
70-73. Print.
Parenthetical Citation: (Sandhu 71)
Stevens, B. K. "Advice from the Crypt." Writer Oct. 2012: 22-23. Print.
Parenthetical Citation: (Stevens 23)
Robinson, Marilynn. “About Books: Beyond the Pale with Edgar Allan
Poe.” New York Times Book Review 8 Feb. 1987: 11. Print.
Parenthetical Citation: (Robinson) Omit page number, if only one page.
Rafferty, Terrence. "Poe Taunts Filmmakers Evermore." New York Times
Newspaper Article: A daily paper. Give
22 Apr. 2012, late ed.: D12+. Print.
date as day Month year. Give paper’s
Note:
The
plus sign (+) indicates the article continues on another page.
section letter before the page number,
Parenthetical
Citation: (Rafferty D16)
when known.
Nickerson, John. "Union Protests Stamford Work Sites." Advocate
Article from a library database:
[Stamford] 10 Nov. 2012: n. pag. Newspaper Source. Web. 12
Create the citation as shown above by type
Dec. 2012.
of periodical. Omit the medium “Print.” Add
Note: Give the city in [square brackets] when a city newspaper title does
Database. Web. day Month year article of
not include its city name. This rule does not apply to national papers such
access. Italicize database name. If pages
as USA Today or Wall Street Journal.
are not available, often true in databases,
Parenthetical Citation: (Nickerson)
use n. pag. to indicate no pages.
Magazine Article: A weekly magazine. Give
date as day Month year.
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LSC-O’s Guide to MLA Citation Style
Examples for books, pamphlets, reports, Web pages and other documents (one-time publications)
| PLACE |
PUBLISHER
| YEAR | MEDIUM |
Berman, Ronald. Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and the Twenties. Tuscaloosa: UP of Alabama, 2001. Print.
|
AUTHOR
|
BOOK TITLE
Book with one author:
Give as last name, first, middle name, or
initial, if known. Examples show several
University Presses, abbreviated UP.
Book with two or three authors:
Give last name first for first author. Place
“and” before the 2nd or 3rd (final) author.
Separate names with commas.
Book with more than three authors:
Give only the first author’s name,
followed by et al. which means “and
others.” Or, cite all of the authors.
Anthology or compilation book:
Example shows an editor name cited in
author’s place. The “ed.” after a name
means “editor.” See note. Editor names
use the same rules as author names.
Work from an anthology:
Give author of the work, then title of the
work, in double “quotes.” If there is a
book named in a title, italicize the book
title (Lolita). Include page range
numbers for the work.
Article from a reference book:
Give author of the article, then title of
the article in “quotes.” Title of book in
italics. Give volume used. If more than
one was used, cite total vols. in the set.
Article reprinted in a reference book:
An article from another source (such as a
magazine or book), has been reprinted
(Rpt.) in a reference book set.
Government publication: (a pamphlet,
report, or other document) Give larger
organization name first, then smaller
organizations or divisions as author.
Database versions for any of the above
examples: Omit the medium “Print.”
Add Database. Web. day Month year of
access. Italicize Database name.
Berman, Ronald. Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and the Twenties. Tuscaloosa: UP
of Alabama, 2001. Print.
Parenthetical Citation: (Berman 146)
McCloskey, Mary Lou, and Lydia Stack. Voices in Literature. Boston:
Heinle, 1996. Print.
Parenthetical Citation: (McCloskey and Stack 46) Give up to three names.
Smith, John, et al. Chronicle of Disease: A History of Cancer Research.
Austin: U of Texas P, 1998. Print.
Parenthetical Citation: (Smith, et al. 55)
Wolfson, Susan J., ed. The Cambridge Companion to Keats. Cambridge:
Cambridge UP, 2001. Print.
Note: When citing an editor in author’s place, add “ed.” after the name. If
citing more than one editor, add “eds.”
Parenthetical Citation: (Wolfson 227-28)
Bordo, Susan. “The Moral Content of Nabokov’s Lolita.” Aesthetic Subjects.
Ed. Pamela R. Matthews and David McWhirter. Minneapolis: U of
Minnesota P, 2003. 125-52. Print.
Note: “Ed.” AFTER a book title means “Edited by.” A plural “Eds.” is never
needed for citing more than one editor after a title. If you have more than
one editor to cite, follow author rules (as to commas, “and” “et al.” etc.).
Parenthetical Citation: (Bordo 131)
Lindgren, Hans C. “Stereotyping.” Encyclopedia of Psychology. Ed.
Raymond J. Corsini. 2nd ed. Vol. 3. New York: Wiley, 1994. Print.
Note: If more than one volume was used, cite total no. of volumes: 12 vols.
Parenthetical Citation: (Lindgren 468)
Shayon, Robert Lewis. "The Interplanetary Spock." Saturday Review
17 June 1967: 46. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed.
Sharon R. Gunton. Vol. 17. Detroit: Gale, 1981. Print.
Parenthetical Citation: (Shayon 403)
Statistics Canada. Center for Education Statistics. Canadian Culture in
Perspective: A Statistical Overview. Ottawa: Statistic Canada, 2000.
Print.
Parenthetical Citation: (Statistics Canada 49)
Berman, Ronald. Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and the Twenties. Tuscaloosa: UP
of Alabama, 2001. EBooks on EbscoHost. Web. 1 Jan. 2012.
Parenthetical Citation: (Berman 146)
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LSC-O’s Guide to MLA Citation Style
Examples for Web pages and documents on the free Web (i.e. not from a library database)
|
AUTHOR
|
WEB PAGE TITLE: SUBTITLE
| SITE NAME| SITE SPONSOR
| DATE | MEDIUM | ACCESS DATE |
(If none, leave blank) “Ernest Hemingway: Biography.” Bio.com. A&E Network, 2012. Web. 12 Dec. 2012.
Web page: Give page author, if known,
or the corporate author name, if an
organization. Web page title is in
“quotes.” Give the Web site name in
italics. Web site sponsor or publisher,
Date. (n.d. if no date.) Web. day Month
year accessed. The example shows a
source without an author, in which case
the page title starts the citation.
eBook on the Web: Cite as a book, and
give the Web site name in italics, and
site sponsor or publisher. Follow with
Web. day Month year eBook was
accessed.
PDF document on the Web: Cite
following our examples for a book,
report or periodical article, as the case
may be. Give the Web site name in
italics. Web site sponsor or publisher.
Web. day Month year document was
accessed.
“Ernest Hemingway: Biography.” Bio.com. A&E Network, 2012. Web. 12
Dec. 2012. < http://www.biography.com/people/ernest-hemingway9334498>.
Note: The URL is NOT required except for instances where it would be hard
to find the source without it. In this case, or if your instructor asks for a URL,
give it as shown above inside of angle brackets.
Parenthetical Citation: (“Ernest Hemingway”)
Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Tom Sawyer’s Comrade.
New York: Harper, 1896. Google Book Search. Google. Web. 11
Dec. 2012.
Parenthetical Citation: (Twain 47)
Modern Language Association. Report to the Teagle Foundation on the
Undergraduate Major in Language and Literature. MLA. Modern
Language Association, Feb. 2009. Web. 12 Dec. 2012.
Parenthetical Citation: (Modern Language Assn. 35)
Other types of things: See MLA Handbook pages 193-204 for more examples.
TV or radio broadcast: Give title of
episode, if any, in “quotes.” Title of
program. Name of network. Call letters,
city (if any), date. Medium. (Television or
Radio).
Film or video recording: Give title in
italics, Dir. (directed by), publisher or
distributor, year. Medium. (DVD,
Videocassette, Film).
Sound recording: Give performers or
group name. Title. Publisher name. Date.
Medium. (CD , LP, Audiocassette).
Personal or Telephone interview: Name
of person interviewed. Personal
interview or Telephone interview. Day
Month year of the interview.
E-mail: Name of e-mail sender. “Re:
Subject line.” Message to recipient
name. Day Month year sent. E-mail.
“Death and Society.” Narr. Joanne Silberner. Weekend Edition Sunday. Natl.
Public Radio. WUWM, Milwaukee, 25 Jan. 1998. Radio.
Note: Narr. means “narrated by.” OK to include but not required.
Parenthetical Citation: (“Death and Society”)
Birth of a Nation. Dir. David W. Griffith. 1905. Image Entertainment, 1998.
DVD.
Note: First date is original date of the film. Second date is date of DVD.
Parenthetical Citation: (Birth of a Nation)
Kronos Quartet. Nuevo. Nonesuch, 2002. CD.
Note: Place a comma between a media manufacturer’s name and date.
Parenthetical Citation: (Kronos)
Pei, I.M. Personal interview. 12 Dec. 2012.
Or
Tan, Amy. Telephone interview. 12 Dec. 2012.
Parenthetical Citations: (Pei) (Tan)
Boyle, Anthony T. “Re: Utopia.” Message to Daniel J. Cahill. 12 Dec. 2012.
E-mail.
Parenthetical Citation: (Boyle)
Missing a citation element? No author? Start with the title. No publisher name or place? Use n.p. No date?
Use n.d. No page? Use n. pag. See the MLA handbook for other abbreviations, pages 240-247.
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LSC-O’s Guide to MLA Citation Style
Parenthetical citations
You have an original quote to cite on page 109 from a book by Gibaldi that says “Quotations are effective in research
papers when used selectively.” Here are three ways to cite this quote in your paper:



Give the author’s name within the quoted sentence and add the page number at the end of the sentence:
“Quotations are effective in research papers when used selectively,” states Gibaldi (109).
If you do not give an author’s name in a quoted sentence, cite the name and page at the end of the quote:
Remember that “[q]uotations are effective in research papers when used selectively” (Gibaldi 109).
You may also paraphrase or summarize the original information, which still requires that you cite the original
author and the page number at the end of the information:
Within the research paper quotations will have more impact when used judiciously (Gibaldi 109).
A prose quotation 4 lines or less is within “quotes.” If more than 4 lines use the block quote, indenting the entire quote
one inch from the left margin. For verse (poetry) or play (drama) quotations see the MLA Handbook, pages 95-97
.
Use this checklist: Have you correctly formatted your paper and included all required elements?
Basic Format
The entire document including block quotations and Works Cited page, is double-spaced and has 1 inch margins.
[ ]
The entire document is in an easily read typeface (e.g. 12-point, Times New Roman font).
[ ]
The entire document is left justified.
[ ]
The first line of all paragraphs is indented ½ inch from the left margin.
[ ]
Unless requested by your instructor, the document does not have a title page.
[ ]
Your name, your instructor’s name, the course name and number, and the date appear on separate lines in the
[ ]
[ ]
[ ]
upper left corner of the first page, double-spaced, above the title.
The document is consecutively page numbered. The page number appears in the upper right-hand corner of the
page, ½ inch from the top, flush with the right margin, with your last name in front of the number.
The paper title is centered at the top of the first page in plain text (not bold, underlined or italicized). Use the same
capitalization rules as you would for any title.
All abbreviations used are consistent with those listed in the MLA manual. (MLA Handbook 233)
[ ]
Parenthetical Citations
All sources cited in the paper are included in the Works Cited section at the end of the document.
[ ]
All parenthetical citations are formatted correctly and include a page number.
[ ]
All quotations are formatted correctly.
[ ]
All prose quotations 4 lines or less are within quotation marks. (Verse or play quotations follow rules on page 95-97.)
[ ]
All prose quotations greater than 4 lines, and verse quotations greater than 3 lines are formatted as block quotes.
[ ]
All quotations of dialogue between two or more characters in a play are formatted as block quotes.
[ ]
Works Cited
All sources that are in the Works Cited section are also cited in the paper.
[ ]
The Works Cited section starts on a separate page.
[ ]
The works cited are listed in alphabetical order by the author’s last name or other first word of the citation.
[ ]
The works cited are formatted with a hanging indent.
[ ]
The works cited are double-spaced both within the citation and between the citations.
[ ]
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